Jacinter one-shots
by sondering
Summary: "Can I say something crazy?" "I love crazy, Trouble." I take requests :)
1. Chapter 1

When Winter was first born, it was bound for them to be the best of friends.

Both of their fathers-Evret & Garrison were guards in the palace and were very great friends. Jacin was only two when Winter was born.

And boy did those two have a blast.

Winter was always the one who initiated games, and was the one that pumped Jacin to be excited with her. You could've easily said that opposites indeed did attract, because even at a young age Jacin was the more serious one while Winter was the bubbly & cheerful one.

"Trouble, what have you got us into now?"

Winter as always shrugs yet giggles at this, pushing his shoulder playfully. "Nothing Jacin," she would say in a sing-songy way.

When Princess Selene was deemed dead, Jacin took the comforting role with Winter. Granted, he himself was upset by the news but Jacin never really was one to express his feelings, at age seven and Winter being five, he already took on these traits as being a protector of Winter.

Winter cried so hard, for a whole week straight. And when her father was on duty, Jacin was always there to keep her company, to comfort her when she needed it the most, and made sure she was alright.

There were times when Jacin was holding her little form in his small embrace, knowing very well that words wouldn't be the key to calming her, but his very presence alone. He would stroke her curly, black hair without hesitance, and when she felt well again they would proceed with their little games around the palace, whether it'd be hide-and-seek, tag, or Winter's favorite and to Jacin's dread, dress-up.

"Why do I have to be a knight trouble?" the ten-year old boy asks.

"Because," an eight year old Winter stomps her foot, "you're supposed to rescue me from the dragon! Oh no, please my knight and shining armor, come save me!" she gasps.

Jacin would play the role without questioning her, enjoying himself also but would never admit to it. He would swipe his sword towards the imaginary dragon in her room. "My princess, I've found you, you're free again!"

"Oh my knight," Winter would say dramatically, "you saved me!"

But what was different about this game of dress-up was when Winter decided to wrap her arms around Jacin's neck, and Jacin would wrap his around her waist, and they would lean in for a play kiss until-

Winter pressed her finger against Jacin's lips, "we have to wait until we get married." Winter winked at him.

Jacin took into account how her voice became serious when she said that, not joking, and although he couldn't say it for Winter, he could sure say it for himself that that was the day he started to fall in love with this certain princess.

 _His_ princess.


	2. Chapter 2

It was no secret that Winter's mother died at birth.

Winter herself had no mother figure other than Queen Levana. And even she did not display affection as a mother should, very little to be quite honest.

But even that little meant everything when her father, Evret, died.

It felt just as Winter started coping with the death of her late step-cousin, life displayed a chain of events again once another person she loved dearly had died.

All she heard was a gun-shot, or shots, and that took her charging to where the crime scene was.

In her father and Levena's quarters.

She saw her father, laying there, not moving.

 _Dead._

There was a pool of blood sprawling out around him, and Winter didn't even pay attention to the other man who was dead right beside him or Jacin's hands touching her shoulder before she ran towards him.

Overlapping Levana's sobs, you could hear his own child's repetitive cry, "daddy, daddy, daddy, _please_ _ **wake up**_!"

But of course, you could not wake up the dead, no matter how heart-breaking it may be.

Jacin as always was there, beside her, trying to pick her up to her feet so that the servants could make way to clean up the horrendous mess.

Garrison and his wife were there also. Since Jacin couldn't pick Winter up, Garrison himself did, and as Jacin looked up towards his mother he could've sworn there were tears pooling down her cheeks.

But then Jacin turned back to Winter, and his heart was aching for her, too painful and too vulnerable for him to stand but he felt it anyway.

By this time, her eyes were bloodshot red;she was still crying her lungs out, still kicking and putting in an effort for her to be released and find out exactly what were those servants doing with _her_ father and _where_ they were taking him.

But he knew, they both knew that she couldn't put up a fight for long.

It happened midnight, and Winter was already winding down, her own body giving in as she grew fatigue.

Jacin watched and followed his father to the princesses quarters, laying her in her bed.

And the reality of it all sunk in when he realized it should have been her father tucking her into bed late at night, catching her tears.

But no, it was his own father doing that, and when his father stood up and went to the gigantic doors of her room, Jacin was still hovering over her, watching her steady breathing as she slept.

"Son," Garrison says in a quiet voice "I know it's been a long night. But please, we have to go."

Jacin looked up at his father pleadingly before whispering "can I stay here with Winter?"

Garrison looked like he was in deep thinking, eyebrows furrowed as he gave in, his own consciousness winding down as tiredness overtook him "sure son," he forced a smile, thinking of one of the guards outside Princess Winter's room, and how his own son was taking on that role. "Go ahead. Good night."

"Good night father."

The door shut, indicating that his father was gone, and Jacin laid on the bed with the unmoving Winter, watching over her.

And as tomorrow would come, there would be rumors about Evret's death, but the one that held the truth and lingered in the palace's walls most of the time was the theory that Levana planned the scheme all along, and that an ex-thaumaturge executed him-and then Levana executed the thaumaturge.

Even when the kingdom didn't know at that time, both Winter and Jacin secretively knew that Levana's little display of affection towards her step-daughter was over, and that Levana never cared about her.

At times, especially after the funeral, Jacin would notice how Winter would look at his parents when they were little. To her, Garrison's wife was the only little piece of motherhood she would get, and she was very observant on how a mother should be like with her child when she watched Jacin with his mother.

But deep in her heart, she would always know and have that piece of fatherhood for that small part in her life, and would never forget about her father, her dearest father. The one who loved and cherished her, the one who would've done _anything_ for her.

And now Jacin was playing that role, and he was the only source that she still loved, that kept her going, that protected & stood by her side. Jacin vowed to himself that he would do Evret justice and protect his only child.

Little did they know that they were already playing the role of the Princess and the Guard.

 **A/N IM BACK!**

 **QOTD: which is your favorite book out of TLC series?**

 **Please leave a review & tell me if I should continue with these one-shots! Also, I'm always open for requests, just leave a review and tell me what you would like to see between Jacin & Winter specifically, whether it'd be what-ifs, or just ideas of one-shots that could happen!**


	3. Chapter 3

There was a time when things didn't have to be this way.

Where Jacin could talk to his princess without having to use proper formalities; those being your highness, and even my princess at times.

At times, he longed for just calling her Winter.

There were times where he missed being able to just be a friend in _general_ , rather than being a lowly guard.

He couldn't touch her any type of way, he was only there to look straight ahead and protect her without laying a hand on her.

But he knew in order to be as close of a friend as he could get, he would have to settle with being a guard.

Lord knows he wanted to be a doctor, Winter knew. Though there was nothing she could do or say for him to not take the place as being her guard.

He already knew deep in his heart he belonged to Winter, and that he was supposed to be here with her, but once the hallucinations came that was all it took for him to confirm his decision when Sybil asked him.

Now of course, his first days as being a guard wasn't easy.

And Winter wasn't making it any easier for him.

"Jacin?" Nothing.

She would snap her fingers at him in the middle of the hallway, outside her bedroom "Jacin! I know you hear me talking to you!"

And the voice in his head was screaming _yes. Of course I do my princess, but you just don't get what I have to sacrifice in order to be here with you._

And as much as he didn't want to admit it himself, it hurt him, badly.

As if Winter answered his prayers, she tapped him lightly on the shoulder and begged for him to come inside her room, saying that "the walls are bleeding."

Jacin was used to this. He knew ever since she gave up her Lunar gift that she would gradually become mad. The Lunar sickness, it was. He had researched it when he dreamt of being a doctor, telling Winter of his scientific findings and whatnot.

When he asked her why she gave up her Lunar gift, she claimed she didn't want to be like the others, liker her step-mother. That she just wanted to be like him, the people she loved.

How could he object to that?

And it was because of that reasoning that led to her three scars; the scars that were supposed to make her ugly but made her even more beautiful behind her bold act, one of her struggles with Levana that she had won.

"Jacin," she said when they were locked inside her room. "Why are you acting like this?"

Knowing that no one would sneak in on them and that it was safe to speak to Winter in such a way, he sighs "it's what I have to do while being your guard."

Winter arched an eyebrow.

Jacin only shook his head. "Winter, dear Winter... you just don't get it do you? Now that I'm your guard now, I can't speak to you any type of way, touch you or play or just be _us_ any type of way. If your step-mother-"

"I don't care what my step-mother thinks." She interjected, arms crossed over her chest.

The viciousness that replaced the childlike voice in her tone sent chills spiraling down through Jacin's spine.

But he still kept up his stoic-like position.

"Listen princess," he says "I couldn't care either. But please understand that the moment she sees us acting like friends, or anything other than what she wants us to behave like, she'll have me in the outer sectors of Artemisia where she can dispose of me once and for all... and who knows what she might do to you!" he vents.

Awkward silence fills her room.

But after a few minutes, Winter's soft voice quietly speaks up "I don't want to pretend any longer. Pretend this bond we have isn't real... that you're only a guard and I'm only your princess and we're not _best friends_." Winter choked, eyes watering.

As if it came naturally to him, Jacin advanced toward to her and wrapped his arms around her familiar envelopment. "I don't want to either. But I don't want to live without you even more."

But this time Winter pushed herself away from him, standing up straight almost as if she was a soldier herself.

In his eyes she was a _warrior._

"I can hold my own. All I need is you by my side to do it."

And that was that.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **I'm basically doing in these one-shots the "what-ifs", the scenes with them where I thought could've been a little more in detail, and just writing fun Jacinter fluff like the Jacinter trash I am.. Tell me, are you** **Wincin trash too? The next chapter will be longer also.**

 **Please make sure to leave a review! I have seen the couple of reviews you all have left me and thank you for both the support and constructive criticism which is what I was looking for! In the future chapters I'll make sure to enforce a little more of the independence and girl power in Winter!**


	4. Chapter 4

Oh God, how she hated the suitors.

Sometimes when her step-mother formed meetings, or when there would be an execution taken place and Winter was there, they'd always have "the discussion."

And today was certainly her unlucky day.

"My dearest step-daughter," Levana would say so sweetly that it hurt for such an evil queen to project out to Winter. "You are now 16, and as you're getting older I would love to see a prince have your hand in marriage."

They both knew she was lying straight through her perfect white teeth.

"That being said," she continued on "I am having an annual ball tonight, where not only I'll be meeting with one of the earthen leaders Emperor Rikan, but you yourself will also be looking for a fine young lad to potentially take in as your husband."

Winter was not stupid, although she might've publicized herself to look that way by being the innocent, childlike character she was she most definitely knew of her step-mothers schemes. And her cruel, _cruel_ ways.

She knew Levana did not want to see her do anything but fail in life. Why? She did not know. Perhaps when she married her father that was all she was looking for-not a loaded burden like herself.

And then Winter thought of Jacin for one sweet moment, and to think that that was the first person that came to mind in her head made all the more sense.

Levana wasn't stupid either. She knew of her and Jain's harmless acts of affection towards each other, whether they were good at hiding it or not. She knew why Jacin wanted to take the position. It wasn't because of his reasoning that he wanted to be "the loyalist guard she had ever seen," it was due to his devotion for Winter.

And for this reason, she would stop their little relations once and for all.

And at that moment, Winter knew she wasn't overthinking anything as she felt her heart being crushed multiple times by her step-mother's own doing.

"Winter?" Queen Levana politely said. She demanded a response, it was nothing close to a question at all.

"Yes step-mother?" Winter tried to sound as polite as she could've, almost matching Levana's tone.

Levana arched an eyebrow before locking eyes with her beautiful step-daughter, rising from her throne.

Her eyes showed... envy towards Winter. Winter didn't understand why. It was always looks of pity, but _never_ envy.

Maybe Winter was seeing things again... surely, it could've well likely have been that. Because if Queen Levana was using her glamour for that, why out of all things show _envy_ to your own step-daughter?

Of course everyone in the kingdom-and especially in the palace claimed Winter was the most beautifulest young woman they had ever seen. But even Winter could not believe it, she simply shrugged it off. Surely they were all just being too nice and flattering towards her, because the woman she was facing right now was the most beautiful living being in all of Luna. Maybe even Earth.

"I want you to be ready before midnight. And I want you to behave and not make a fool of yourself _and_ me on behalf of the royal lunar crown." Levana tilted her head, hair cascading down her shoulders as her words poured in like venom to Winter.

 _Maybe I'm just hallucinating again._

"Understand?"

There it goes again. Just like that, her sweet voice was back again. It was scary how Queen Levana operated.

Winter nodded her head before she jetted out of the throne room gracefully. "Yes step-mother."

* * *

It all felt like a very cruel joke.

When Winter told Jacin of her and Levana's conversation that afternoon, he felt very... repulsed. Even if he knew it was bound to happen someday.

While Winter kept talking, enraged at her step-mother yet again, Jacin just stood there.

He couldn't say he was in shock. That was just how he was.

So he listened to Winter vent. He listened as angry hot tears poured down her cheeks.

"I mean, why would she care anyway about who'd I marry? She even told me not to embarrass _her_!" she screamed to the top of her lungs before lying face down on her bed, voice muffled. "I'm just so tired of it all Jacin."

Jacin would've asked "tired of what princess?" But he knew.

He knew what she was tired of.

The hallucinations was one.

But her step-mother Queen Levana was another factor.

She was painted as mentally unstable. Too... fragile to ever take up the lunar throne.

And maybe that was true. But the fact that everyone in the palace but him thought she was just a pretty- _beautiful_ face discouraged her.

"So I'll just do what she asks. But I know she could careless about me finding a husband... all she wants to do is get rid of me."

But surely she couldn't get rid of her that easily, right?

He knew. Levana knew herself that the kingdom _loved_ Winter because she was the exact opposite of the Queen. She was not manipulative, nor did she deceive anyone with her Lunar gift. She was the only person he knew that held her own and didn't use a mere glamour to make a petty change in her appearance.

That just wasn't her.

"But I'm staying as long as I can to see a change taking place around here. I'm not going out that easy... it takes more than a man for me to leave this prison of a palace" Winter vowed.

At her bold statement, Jacin lifted an eyebrow.

"What does it take for you to finally leave this place then princess?"

Winter stood from her bed, arms crossed over her chest and her black curly hair in her face, securing her scars as always.

"A revolution."

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **Hey guys, I'm back again! Hope you didn't miss me too much ;)**

 **I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but after seeing such kind reviews I kinda had to come back.**

 **Till next time!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Now I'm the one that feels like hallucinating._

Ironic, huh? The same person who's been guiding his best friend how to quench down her hallucinations can't seem to practice what he preaches.

But this was more than just an hallucination. This was _reality._

The Queen herself gave Jacin a job. A job that involved how loyal he was to _her_ rather than to her step-daughter.

He didn't know what to make of it at the moment. And he didn't know what Levana thought he might've said or what he might do or if he would go through with it at all.

All he knew was that he was _not_ going to kill his princess.

At first when the request-no _demand_ was proposed to him right before the Queen's throne room, he thought it was absolutely absurd. Well for one, why would she want to kill the princess? For _what_ reason? But he knew. It was more than him thinking he knew.

Of course, he heard the rumors of what Queen Levana looked like underneath all her glorious glamour.

Some dared to say she was hideous under their breaths, just so that the Queen herself, or her thaumaturges, or her cameras around the palace wouldn't detect a single utter of defiance against their Queen. Although the cameras had no audio, people were still paranoid and valued still having their tongues. They had even said the backstory of it-at least the ones who were there during Queen Channary's time.

They said Channary had to be even more evil than her younger sister, Levana. One day, she pushed half of her sibling's body in the holographic fireplace, and some went far to say she looked "horrendous with her mutilated and burnt off body, her face lopsided."

They said they didn't know what was worse: the ungodly truth behind her glamour or how painful the sight of her alluring glamour was that contrasted who she would _never_ reveal underneath.

Now of course, the first time he heard this he didn't know whether to believe it or not. But once he heard it circulating around the palace more than a handful of times, and Winter stealing the hearts of everyone in the kingdom, of course Levana grew livid.

And of course Winter told him there were times when the Queen looked at her step-daughter with envy.

And of course he could never ignore the fact that all of Artemisia-even his fellow guard mates, called her the most attractive girl they'd ever laid eyes on once she started getting older and prettier by the day.

But this final request, this final order gave him confirmation. Confirmation that the Queen wanted to get rid of her embarrassment of a step-daughter only because she had her kingdom's attention with her gracefulness and kindness towards them. Not to mention a very large amount of the men's attention with how breathtaking she was.

And it was all because of jealousy for her.

And for a moment, Jacin pondered about how Evret, Winter's father would feel about all of this.

He knew he would never forgive himself if he went through with this just to save himself and his family... he knew he couldn't digest murdering someone at all unless it was self-defense.

So for the rest of that evening, Jacin would stand in front of Winter's chambers. Thinking. Planning. _Scheming_ for a way to make her death seem like a death without it being one.

It took him a long time to come up with his plan, but hey, he came up with one.

What was the hardest part about executing it was the look on Winter's face when he told her right then and there in the menagerie what was about to happen.

When he killed Ryu, her pet.

When they kissed, and she told him she loved him.

When he let her run away and the terrorizing question hung above his head until they'd crossed paths again:

 _Did I say I loved her back?_

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **I think I might be done for right now with the more detailed versions of their scenes in the book and onto what might be in the future for them.. and what I thought could've been in the Stars Above book about them but wasn't... I didn't think they were featured enough in that also. Anyways, please leave a review! Also give me "what-ifs" if you possibly can relating to them!**


	6. Chapter 6

"Oh my," Winter gasped.

Winter was always assured that she was overwhelmingly beautiful throughout her life, and under hushed and rushed voices, even more beautiful than the Queen herself. But Winter always dismissed it, thinking all of their compliments were only because they were being nice.

In the most non-self absorbed way as possible, Winter was blown away by what the mirror conveyed before her. Not necessarily because of her beautiful looks, but the mere fact that she could actually see her and only her in her reflection was blissful. So blissful that she could've sworn tears were welling up in her eyes. She made sure to inspect herself detail by detail: her dark brown symmetrical face that was the same shade as the rest of her body, her golden-brown eyes with flecks of gray around the pupils, and her thick, black corkscrew hair that bounced around her shoulders.

Winter was fascinated by the foreign object. After eighteen years of wondering how she looked beyond the overused compliments sought out to her, she finally could place her name to a face. Not even just _a_ face, but _her_ face.

"Jacin! Jacin!" She yelled.

"Yes, Princess?"

"Look!" She pointed her index finger towards her reflection in the crystal glass mirror, before her excitement rapidly turned into despair.

Jacin noticed the sudden change in her mood and wrapped an arm around her. "What's wrong, Winter?" M _aybe she doesn't like being called princess?_ Jacin pondered. _But she knows that I call her it now as a form of endearment._ Jacin didn't even take one glance at his reflection, he was all too familiar with it-even if he'd only gotten a nanosecond looking at it each time he flew to Earth with Sybil. For him, it was all too frivolous.

All of the sudden, Winter felt the weight of the sudden pass eighteen years of her life display out before her. It was all too bittersweet; the scars that reflected her badge of honor even though it reminded her of the pain she endured under Levana's rule, the features that resembled her late father and her unknown mother...

She was a total wreck before Jacin picked her up bridal style, sitting the both of them on their bed they shared in a hotel for one of their ambassadorial trips on Earth.

He didn't need to ask her anything, already knowing what was the cause of her pain that had her bawling her eyes out once she said a soft statement in between chokes "I can't look at my reflection in the mirror anymore."


	7. Chapter 7

He could not decipher what was wrong with him.

Winter looked like a stranger to him now. Well, a _beautiful_ stranger. He could not pinpoint exactly when this sudden change in her had begun. _Maybe with puberty,_ he thought. But he started to think of her more than just best friends, more than her protector even if he was not her guard. Heck, he felt like her _personal_ guard.

Granted, his sudden change to her did not spurt over night. It was not because she was growing more gorgeous by the minute. At least, not just that. His feelings grew throughout the three hundred sixty-five days that came with the twelve months and the four un-changing seasons. It came every hour to the minute watered down to the very second he would spend with her. He was her only friend, as she was to him. They grew up together. She had already captured his heart before she would capture the heart of suitors, thaumaturges, peasants, servants...

He was scared. He could never obtain her because she was unattainable. His father was a lowly guard. She was a _princess_. He was a nothing. She was more than a something.

He wished he could rewind to the old days. Those days where the days seemed brighter because as kids they did not know any better. Those days where his feelings would not be so conflicting, changing like the seasons on earth he looked up on his port-screen. That day when he leaned in to steal a kiss from Winter at ten and she eight, not knowing it would bring him here. He did not know what was running through his mind with the intention of kissing her. Maybe that's how this thing, this unknown yet inevitable and predictable thing planted and sprouted. They were not exposed to the differences between them; how close yet so far their worlds are. How close and so far their worlds would be once Winter would be at a marriageable age. Stars above, Jacin was not ready for that. He would never be ready for that. Why was he thinking of these things at fourteen? Maybe because he would have to take the aptitude test pretty soon, and the fact that he would aspire to be an intern as a doctor. The fact that he knew it was more than unlikely he would be placed under Artemisia's palace for it. He did not know. He was scared of the unknown. He was scared of leaving behind his only friend.

But once Levana mutilated her beautiful face for the sake of defying lunar society to unintentionally make her even more beautiful, teaching the cold moon to shine bright at night, he could not help it. He could not help but snap out of his in-denial, his resistance.

He had came to the fact that this princess, _his_ princess, his best friend, his beautiful love but non-existent lover was the person whom he loved. The person Jacin loved the most.

He realized he _loved_ her.

He loved Winter.


	8. Chapter 8

"Jacin?" Winter softly mumbled, her voice as soothing and enticing as the birds singing outside their hotel.

A small and muffled "hmph" could be heard from him, along with the ruffling of covers.

"Oh! I didn't mean to wake you. That is, if you were asleep. I know how much of a light sleeper you are. But if you were already awake-"

Jacin reached over and pressed his lips to her full, red ones. Whether or not he did this to shut her up, Winter thought, she enjoyed it nonetheless. Instead of a t-shirt to tug in order to prolong their kissing, she enclosed her arms around his neck, both of them positioned on their sides towards each other.

A small moan escaped from Winter's lips at such contact.

His strong arms captivated her waist, as if she was the predator to his prey. They had fit like lock and key. He pressed her tighter against him, heat circulating between them that Winter could have sworn they would have caused a wildfire.

Her breath was becoming ragged at all this sudden intimacy, the breaks in between kisses that could not suffice her hard panting yet energy and excitement for the next kiss he'd eventually plant on her lips. His kisses made her nights bright, her days even brighter, her mornings easier to flow in to.

And it was _so_ easy to get drowned by him. _Him._ Jacin. Him with the icy blue-grayish eyes. Him with the sunrise smile. Him, who is hardly ever affectionate yet is too passionate and loving for his own good. Even for his own sake.

Knowing Jacin could sense Winter's breathing becoming more shallower, he slowly withdrew from her lips.

Winter had never felt an abundance of emotions like this. She felt like a roller coaster; gradually making her way to the top, then dropping completely down. She did not want this particular ride to end.

But judging by Jacin's face, she was ninety-nine point nine percent sure this ride wouldn't end. He had that smirk on his face, those eyes gleaming back at her. They looked like crystals from her side of their bed and the sun right behind his side of the window, blinding her.

"Are you real?" she whispered.

He chuckled. "Do I look real?"

She shook her head against the white pillows. "You look euphoric. Like the sun engulfed you in its arms and created you back in human form... or maybe you engulfed the sun. Will you give me the sun, Jacin?"

He was grinning now, reaching under the covers to find her dark brown hand and plant kisses on it. "You already have the sun, Winter."

"Then why do I feel as if I'm orbiting around it?" Winter's heart was beating a mile per minute, beating like a hammer.

Jacin softly shook his head against his pillow, closing his eyes with it before opening them back up. "My princess, you _are_ the sun. You're my sun."

"I don't know Jacin." Winter's voice was full of playful doubt, matching her playful smile. "I'm a girl of ice-"

"And snow," Jacin said in unison with her. "Could it be possible that you're a mixture? You're a girl of rainbows and sunshine." He declared.

Winter furrowed her eyebrows, clearly wanting to hear more.

"You're _my_ rainbow on a rainy day. My sunshine when it's gloomy. My stars to the dark nights: you're everything in one, Winter."

Winter softly put her index finger on his lips. His soft, smooth lips.

He smiled against them.

She felt her heart aching. Aching with love. Or was swelling the word? She could not differentiate.

He kissed her finger, making her smile with all her teeth showing.

"I love you. _So_ much Winter."

Before she could say she loved him back, in a split second, Jacin grabbed her from her side of the bed and placed her on top of him.

Chest to chest.

Body to body.

Heat radiating off of the both of them.

"Ja-"

He sealed her words with another kiss, almost as passionate as the one in the menagerie.

Oh God, Winter _loved_ mornings.


	9. Chapter 9

It had been four years since he left Winter.

Four years since he regretted leaving her.

Four years since he was living in the lumber sector with his parents.

Four years since he replayed in his head what could've and would've been if he'd just stayed with her. If he would've became a palace guard just to be close to her.

Jacin sincerely regretted it every single day. The thought of her being alone up there with _them_. Those selfish and vain Lunar aristocrats, those thaumaturges, that evil queen.

He missed her too. _So_ much. She was his best friend and his _only_ friend. He didn't make any new friends after departing from her, only because he did not have the heart to. He did not have the heart to see someone else walk away from his life. No - that thought belonged to Winter only. He was the one that walked away from her life. She was the only one who could feel this way, who could feel so betrayed. He only felt... scared. Scared to let someone in only to push them out.

His worst fear that gave him visions of darkness, fallen angels, and stars above, maybe even Satan himself came true. Satan as in Levana. Fallen angels as in thaumaturges and those wicked aristocrats.

There was a live reporting that so rarely aired after the anthem that let the lunar citizens go home from their hard work and labor. The voice of Levana could be heard throughout the sector, and once Jacin detected the slightest sniffle and the feigned distressed and sorrowful voice, he'd already known.

He knew, but didn't know.

He didn't want to know, but he wanted to know.

He hoped he was just getting ahead of himself.

But just as quickly as his thoughts scattered and recycled throughout his brain, it all came tumbling down.

 _Winter Hayle-Blackburn, Princess of Luna, has been pronounced dead as of today._

Before Jacin could hear more details of her death, he completely zoned out. He landed on his knees, screaming and screaming and screaming to the point where his voice went hoarse. He heard a whirlwind of cries around him by other citizens, but no one knew her like he did. Absolutely _no one_.

He felt hands around his waist, pulling him up. But just as quickly as they pulled him up, he fell back down. His knees and legs felt like jelly. He could hear his mom creeping up to his side, tugging on his muscular arm and begging for him to get up. He detected his father's voice at some point amiss the hysterical cries in his ear from his mom.

"No!" Jacin yelled to the moon, to the earth, to whatever was out there. This was not how it was supposed to end. This was not how _she_ was supposed to end. She was never supposed to go. People like Winter don't just die so _suddenly_. Even though he'd been away from her for over four years, he knew her the remaining fifteen. At this point and time, it felt like he'd just played the Princess and the Guard with her at age seven and five. It felt like he'd just been comforting her over the devastating death of her father. It felt like he'd just been researching for his doctor's intern and the unusual lunar sickness yesterday. It felt like he'd just been supporting and comforting her through her horrific hallucinations.

It felt like he'd just left her today.

The weight of his decisions came whirling around him like a huge joke. A bad, _bad_ one. Like bad karma.

It had been four years since he left Winter.

Four years since he regretted leaving her.

Four years since he replayed in his head what could've and would've been if he'd just stayed with her. If he would've became a palace guard just to be close to her.

An instant since she died.

A second since a part of Jacin died with her.

 **To the review that requested the Rampion Crew getting together, I will make sure to do that for the next chapter or the following one after that!**


End file.
